


Kijimi

by ceridwen_2020



Series: Early ideas for a re-imagining of the Rise of Skywalker [7]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:49:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27684494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceridwen_2020/pseuds/ceridwen_2020
Summary: Poe takes his friends to Kijimi to meet his old friend, Zorri Bliss, a spice runner. She agrees to help them translate the various message cubes that they found on Ochi's ship. Meanwhile, Kylo Ren is also called to Kijimi when a protest against the First Order gets out of hand.A re-imagining of this scene from the Rise of Skywalker. This time Rose comes along, Poe is not a former spice runner, and they know about Rey's connection with Kylo Ren. Chewbacca was captured with the Falcon on Pasaana and is being held on Kylo's ship.
Relationships: Poe Dameron & Finn & Rey & Rose Tico, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Zorii Bliss & Poe Dameron
Series: Early ideas for a re-imagining of the Rise of Skywalker [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2024378
Kudos: 1





	Kijimi

It was a tense journey but Ochi’s ship just made it to Kijimi, a cold, snowy planet of towering mountains and unexplored forests, with ancient stone-built cities dotted in amongst what was essentially wilderness. Strong government had never taken hold on the planet, there were too many places to hide or escape to, and as such, criminality flourished in its tiny alleyways and cramped buildings. For the First Order it had proved an enduring headache, the current rebellion only one of many that had dogged their attempts to control the system.  
Standing on the gangplank, Rey was watching the snow falling down into the hangar, swirling as the wind blew it around the ship. To her it was magical and she held out her hand to let it fall on her fingers, feeling how cold, soft, and light it was. There was a noise from the other side of the hangar and she looked over to see Rose returning with several long, warm coats, one of which she was already wearing.  
‘Here, put this on,’ said Rose, handing Rey one of the coats. ‘It soon gets cold.’  
‘Thank you,’ Rey pulled the coat on over her robes; it was an unflattering dull green but thickly padded, with useful pockets and a deep, fur-lined hood. ‘I like this,’ she said appreciatively.  
Finn and Poe emerged from the ship to put on their own coats, and there was even one for Threepio to disguise him. As Poe warned them, ‘This place is crawling with the First Order, as well as criminals and thieves. Don’t trust anyone.’  
Walking quickly out of hangar, they headed into the snowy streets, making sure they kept out of sight of the many First Order patrols. Kijimi City was built on the side of a huge mountain, with cold winds blasting it for most of the year. To ward off the cold and the wind, houses were built as tightly packed, and with as few windows, as possible, giving it the feel of an ancient citadel. Streets were narrow and winding, with tunnels and stairs built as short cuts to access the upper and lower levels of the city. It was a thieves, and an assassin’s, paradise, with inhabitants able to vanish at will depending on their knowledge of the labyrinthine streets.  
‘Who are we going to meet again?’ Finn asked Poe as they hurried along a narrow alleyway, keeping close together.  
‘Zorri Bliss,’ Poe replied quietly, trusting his instincts would not fail him - he had been lost in Kijimi City once as a younger man and it had not been pleasant.  
‘And they are…?’  
‘An old friend.’ He did not say, my old friend the spice runner, now was not the right time to get into details. Stopping at the corner, he waited whilst a squad of stormtroopers, dressed in long white coats to keep them warm in the freezing conditions, marched past.  
Looking around, Rey noticed a poster on the opposite wall of the alleyway. It was a stylised image of Kylo Ren, proclaiming him to be a benevolent leader who would reward those who stayed loyal to the First Order. Someone had already drawn a moustache on it much to Rey’s amusement. She was about to point it out to Rose when Poe was moving off again and regretfully she had to leave it behind.  
After a long, circuitous route, they reached the busy cafe bar where Poe presumed that he would find his friend Zorri. After the chill of the streets, the bar was welcoming and warm, most patrons gathered around the huge inviting fire that burned in the central fireplace. Pushing through to the bar, Poe ordered hot drinks for them all, before surreptitiously looking round for Zorri.  
‘Hey Poe,’ said a soft voice from behind him, ‘not seen you in a long time.’  
He turned to see a short woman dressed in a silky-looking jumpsuit, her long dark hair pulled back tightly from her attractive face. ‘Zorri!’ He opened up his arms to give her a hug, but she stood her ground.  
‘I don’t think so.’ Zorri did not look pleased, she jabbed her finger at him; ‘You owe me - big time.’  
‘Come on,’ pleaded Poe, seeing that the others were watching, ‘that was ages ago - surely it’s in the past?’  
‘Not when I’m still having to watch my back because of what you did to Yumo.’ Seeing Finn and Roses’ curious stares, she paused to ask, ‘Are these your friends? Aren’t you going to introduce us?’  
‘Zorri, this is Finn, Rose, Rey and C3PO. You already know BB8.’  
Zorri made a big show of shaking hands with everyone, even Threepio, which pleased him no end. ‘I guess he hasn’t told you much about me?’ she said, a slight smile playing around her lips.  
‘He hasn’t told us anything,’ said Rose, warming to the woman straight away, with her mischievous expression and sparkly eyes, ‘except that you’re an old friend.’  
‘Very old friend,’ corrected Zorri, taking a seat at the bar in-between Finn and Poe, ‘we’ve known each other since we were children.’ When the others looked shocked that Poe had never mentioned her before, she smiled thinly. ‘We grew up together on Yavin 4 - we were literally family - but then our paths diverged in a very dramatic fashion.’ She looked at Poe, ‘You could at least buy me a drink?’  
‘Of course,’ Poe seemed flustered around Zorri and Finn could not work out whether it was because he was attracted to her, or because something had happened between them that Poe regretted - or both. Although he was good at reading other peoples’ emotions, he seemed to have a blind spot with Poe.  
‘So what do you do, Zorri?’ asked Rose whilst Poe was busy with the bartender.  
‘I’m a spice runner.’ She gave them a moment for the news to sink in, ‘Yes, I’m an evil drugs pusher, a criminal. I guess you weren’t expecting that, huh?’  
‘Not really,’ admitted Finn, but he liked her honesty. ‘I guess a job’s a job.’  
‘No it’s not,’ countered Poe, who had turned back from the bar. He handed Zorri her drink, ‘And you, Finn, should know that more than anyone else.’  
‘Why, what did you do, sweetie?’ Zorri was looking at him with interest.  
‘I used to be a stormtrooper,’ said Finn quietly, ‘with the First Order,’ he added because he was nervous.  
But he needn’t have worried, Zorri merely shrugged. ‘You would have been taken at birth. I don’t know how anyone could hold that against you. Whereas, with me it was purely my choice. I chose to be scum.’  
Poe rolled his eyes, ‘Pretty, but we haven’t got time to go into this now. We need your help.’  
‘Well, I didn’t think this was a social call,’ sighed Zorri, taking a sip of her drink now that it had cooled down. ‘What do you need?’  
‘We need some translation. Ancient languages…’  
‘You’ve got a droid,’ shrugged Zorri, looking bored, ‘why don’t you use it?’  
‘Ancient Sith languages.’  
Zorri blanched, her cup poised halfway towards her mouth. ‘Why?’ she managed to say.  
‘It doesn’t matter why,’ insisted Poe, knowing that to get into why the Sith was still alive would take all day to explain. And they did not have all day. ‘Will you help us?’  
When Zorri remained silent, Rey decided to speak up. She had been watching the interaction between Zorri and Poe, and she realised that Poe had hurt Zorri a long time ago. Probably when he told her what he thought about her life choices. Although the wounds were healing, Zorri was still harbouring a grudge. Perhaps he wasn’t the best person to state their case. ‘An old evil is planning its return,’ she said softly, ‘and we need to stop it. If we don’t, a force far greater than the First Order will overrun the galaxy, sweeping away all dissent in its path.’  
‘Evil?’ Zorri looked terrified, ‘you mean the Empire.’  
Rey nodded, ‘Unless we understand what these translations say, it might already be too late.’  
Taking another sip of her drink, Zorri made up her mind. ‘Okay, I’ll help you. I’ll take you to Babu Frik, he’s the best droidsmith in the city. He’ll know how we can adapt your droid to speak Sith.’  
‘I beg your pardon?’ Threepio did not like the sound of that.  
‘It’ll be fine, Threepio,’ said Poe, waving away his concerns. ‘Thank you, Zorri.’  
‘He’s expensive,’ she added, raising her eyebrows.  
‘No problem,’ shrugged Poe, finishing his drink, ‘we’ll give him what he wants.’  
Drowning the rest of her drink, Zorri put the cup on the bar and stood up. ‘Come on then,’ she said, picking up her helmet from the floor and covering up her pretty features, ‘Let’s go before I regret agreeing to help you.’

A few hours earlier, Kylo Ren had arrived in Kijimi City to try and quell the spreading disruption. For once, he had decided to go against the repressive tendencies of the First Order, opening up the blockade around the planet that had been instigated by Hux, flooding the city with positive propaganda about the benefits of supporting the First order, and agreeing to talk to the instigators of the riots. At first it had gone relatively well; the lead troublemakers had agreed to speak to him after he had offered them a range of concessions, as long as the disruption was halted. The talks had gone well, and Kylo Ren was beginning to think that he could get used to - and even enjoy - being a more benevolent leader, when one of the instigators became over-confident and started to make more and more outrageous demands. Despite Kylo’s attempts, the rebels refused to back down unless he agreed to complete withdrawal from the planet, and the whole plan quickly fell apart, especially when a rival faction started their own rebellion in retaliation. Irritated by his failure, Kylo Ren resorted to what the First Order knew best, clamping down with a display of military might. Patrols were increased, General Hux was called down from the Steadfast to help strategise, and Kylo resigned himself to the idea that being benevolent and magnanimous was far, far harder than being tyrannical and repressive.  
As the disturbances raged across the city, Kylo became aware of another presence amidst the chaos and confusion. A presence that intrigued and frustrated him in equal measure.  
Why is she here?  
Leaving Hux to co-ordinate the clampdown on the rioters, Kylo Ren headed into the city alone, determined to find Rey and find out the answer to his burning question.

Babu Frik’s workshop was hidden at the back of a packed cafe bar, a large, but cramped, space filled to the rafters with droid parts and machinery of all makes and ages. Babu Frik was unlike anything they expected, an Anzellan of tiny stature but big personality, his miniature goggles pushed back on top of his head. He peered at them from his large, expressive eyes, speaking quietly and rapidly to Zorri, as she explained to him why they needed a droidsmith. After a little while, Zorri came over to Poe and Finn, ‘Babu says he can do it. But it means wiping your droid’s central processing unit to put in the new translation software. Oh, and he wants more credits than you’ve offered.’  
Nodding, Poe looked over at Threepio, who looked back at him, bravely. ‘That’s fine.’  
‘I’m ready, Sir.’  
‘It will only be temporary,’ said Poe reassuringly, ‘R2D2 has a backup.’  
As the friends and Zorri watched, Babu Frik opened up the back of Threepio’s head to insert several trailing wires that would power the new translation software. Just before Threepio’s memory was shut off, he took one last look at his friends, feeling sad that he would not recognise them when he woke up. Then he was switched off.  
As Babu Frik worked on the droid, muttering away to himself in his unusual speech patterns, Rey and Rose nosed around the fragments of droids that filled the workshop. There were hundreds of bits of parts hanging from the walls, the ceiling, and piled up on shelves, some dating back to before the Empire and the Old Republic. Seeing something she recognised, Rose told Rey about the first droid she fixed as a child, which happened to be one of the droids that was slumped against the far wall. Whilst Rey listened, she couldn’t help but notice out of the window the large First Order ship that was dominating the skyline of Kijimi City - was Kylo Ren here?  
‘Rey?’ Rose was looking at her with amusement, realising that she had become distracted. ‘I’m sorry if I’m boring you…’  
‘No, it’s not that,’ said Rey, feeling awful. ‘I’m sorry, Rose. My mind keeps wandering.’  
‘I’ve noticed,’ Rose was only joking but when she saw that Rey had taken it to heart, she took her hand and pressed it. ‘It’s okay. It means more to me than to you,’ she said, meaning the droid.  
‘Hey you two,’ said Poe, gesturing for them to come back over to Threepio, ‘he’s ready.’  
The translation software had been inserted and the droid’s eyes glowed an eerie red, clearly by the design of whoever had developed it. When Zorri asked Babu Frik why this was, he shrugged and babbled for a short time. ‘It’s a joke,’ Zorri explained to the rest of them, ‘Sith like red, I guess.’  
‘Great, a Sith with a sense of humour.’ Poe took the data stick from his pocket, whilst Rey got the message cube from her bag.  
They asked Threepio to translate first the mysterious message Rose had intercepted over the rarely used frequency. As C3PO’s new software kicked in, his voice spoke the translated message in a sinister, deep voice that seemed incongruous coming out of the mouth of the fussy droid. As they listened, it became clear that it was a message of exaltation from the mysterious Sith Eternals being broadcast to their loyal supporters across the galaxy:

At last, the work of generations is complete. The great error has been corrected and the last of the Skywalkers has been turned. Soon the day of Convergence will be at hand and we will begin our ascent. We will have revenge on those … [here the message was too scrambled] … the Sith will rise once more and we shall reclaim our Empire.

Threepio finished speaking, and the workshop fell silent as Poe and the others sought to digest, and understand, the meaning of the message. Rey had felt her blood run cold when Threepio said that the last Skywalker had been turned - it had to mean Ben! Did that mean that Palpatine and the Sith were behind his turn to the dark side?  
‘What does it mean - the great error?’ asked Finn, whilst Babu Frik chattered softly to Zorri in the background, clearly as disturbed as they were by the contents of the message.  
‘It means Palpatine’s death,’ Rey realised, wondering if Palpatine’s plan had been to revenge himself on the Skywalkers for being the cause of his death and destruction of his Empire. ‘The “work of generations” must have been to bring him back to life.’  
‘What are you talking about?’ Zorri looked at her strangely, ‘Did you just say Palpatine is alive?’  
‘Yes,’ it was Poe who answered, Rey had told them all after they had managed to stabilise the ship on the way to Kijimi.  
‘But that’s impossible,’ Zorri looked horrified, unable to comprehend it, ’how is that even possible? How do you even know?’  
‘It’s a long story,’ said Poe, deciding to tell a little white lie to avoid a difficult situation for Rey, ‘but we’ve got a mole in the First Order, very high up. They told us that Kylo Ren is working for the Sith now.’  
Zorri shivered, ‘As if the First Order aren’t evil enough already. But I thought the Sith died with Palpatine?’  
‘So did most of the galaxy,’ said Rey, giving the message cube to Threepio so that he could translate it. ‘But it seems they were hiding on a planet called Exegol. We need to find out what’s going on there.’  
‘Exegol, where’s Exegol?’ Zorri asked Poe whilst Threepio started to translate Ochi’s message for them.  
‘It’s out in the furthest reaches of the Unknown Regions,’ Poe whispered back, ‘you can only reach it by using a Sith holocron so it must be well hidden. Rey hopes that this message will tell us where the holocron is.’  
For the first time since they had met, Zorri realised the terrible danger that Poe and his friends were in. At first she thought they had been dealing with some local trouble, but this was trouble on a galactic scale - trouble that affected her and Babu Frik, as well as the Resistance. Wishing she had been a little more friendlier, she reached out and took Poe’s hand. Confused at first, he saw the terror in her eyes, the realisation that they were up against something that would affect the entire galaxy. ‘It’s pretty serious stuff.’  
‘I wish you’d told me upfront,’ she sighed, feeling foolish. ‘I would have bought you a drink.’  
With the translation complete, the message turned out to be from an acolyte of the Sith Eternals, informing Ochi that the Emperor’s holocron had vanished after the destruction of the Death Star. That Ochi needed to explore the ruins of the gigantic space station that had crashed on the moon of Kef Bir. As Rey surmised, Ochi had been on the way to look for the holocron when his ship had malfunctioned, crashing on Pasaana and killing him. There he had lain with his secrets for many years, until they had dug him up again.  
‘So this holocron we’re looking for will take us to a Sith planet where Palpatine still lives,’ mused Finn, ‘Are we sure we want to do this?’  
‘We have to,’ insisted Rey, watching as Babu Frik started to work on Threepio for the second time, this time to restore his central processor. ‘Ben’s hiding something and we need to find out what it is.’  
‘Who’s Ben?’ Zorri asked Poe, getting confused with all the different names.  
‘She means Ben Solo,’ explained Poe off handedly, ‘or as you know him, Kylo Ren.’  
‘What? As in Han Solo?’ It was another moment of terrible realisation for Zorri. Han Solo was well known, even idolised, amongst the criminal fraternity in Kijimi City, both for his exploits and for his ‘don’t give a damn’ attitude in general.  
‘Yes, he’s Han Solo’s son,’ Poe went on, forgetting that Kylo Ren’s real identity was not known except to a very few. Rey looked at him crossly, it was not the time to get bogged down in all the details. But Zorri did not say anything more, she was too upset to learn that her hero’s son was the same Supreme Leader who was tyrannising her home planet.  
‘So we need to get to Kef Bir,’ Poe returned to the main issue at hand, chewing on his lip, ‘that’s ages from here. As much as I’d love it too, I don’t think Ochi’s ship is gonna make it.’  
‘If only we had the Falcon,’ sighed Finn, wistfully.  
‘The First Order’s got it now,’ replied Rose, pessimistic about their chances of getting anywhere without a properly functioning ship.  
‘What a minute,’ said Rey, thinking quickly. Going over to the window she pointed to the large Star Destroyer that was still looming over Kijimi City. ’That’s his ship, isn’t it?’ Kylo Ren must have come straight from Pasaana to get here at the same time that they did. ‘Want to bet it’s up there?’  
‘But even if it was, how can we get it back?’ Finn said fussily, ‘it’s not like we’ve got a key to get in.’  
‘Leave it to me,’ smiled Rey enigmatically, ‘I’ll go and find out.’  
‘Okay, we’ll leave it to you,’ agreed Poe, wondering what she had on her mind but knowing that it must involve Kylo Ren in some capacity, ‘we’ll meet you back at the hangar.’  
‘I’ll be there.’  
As Rey grabbed her bag and vanished out of the workshop, Babu Frik finished soldering the back of Threepio’s head, still chattering away in his little voice. Switching the droid back on, everyone watched as Threepio’s eyes lit up - back to their usual colour - and he looked around the crowded workshop with great interest. ‘Why, hello there,’ the droid said in his stilted, over-friendly manner, ‘my name is C-Threepio, human cyborg relations. I am fluent in over six million forms of communication and it is my pleasure to be able to serve you.’  
‘Hello Threepio,’ said Poe cheerily, ‘now you’re back together, can we go now?’  
‘Of course, Master, sorry I did not catch your name…’  
‘Poe.’  
‘Master Poe, I would be pleased to leave this place with you, although it is extremely fascinating to see all these historical droid parts. Where would we be going?’  
Unable to cope with getting to know Threepio all over again, Poe turned away and started to collect together the payment for Babu Frik, who was waiting patiently now that he had put his tools away.  
‘Was it something I said?’ complained Threepio to Babu Frik, who muttered something about the unreliability of humans. ‘Yes, human behaviour often confuses me,’ agreed the droid. ‘And what is your name, little friend?’  
Whilst C3PO got to know Babu Frik better, Finn, Poe and Rose got ready to leave, making sure that they had all their belongings.  
After paying Babu Frik the hefty sum he had requested, Poe turned to Zorri, ‘I guess this is where we say goodbye?’  
‘Not quite yet,’ said Zorri, with a broad grin. ‘I’ll come with you to the hangar, if I may? I want to see what condition this ship of yours is in.’  
‘Of course,’ Poe found it hilarious that Zorri’s attitude towards him had changed so radically, now she was practically falling over herself to help them.  
Bidding goodbye to Babu Frik, they slipped out of the droid workshop and back into the cold, dark streets. It had started to snow again. Whilst Zorri walked with Rose, telling her about the history of Kijimi City, Poe and Finn took the lead, keeping an eye out for any unwanted indications that the First Order had realised their presence in the city. Despite Rey’s trust in Kylo Ren, they could not share it.  
‘Do people who use the Force go a bit mad?’ Poe asked Finn as they walked vigilantly along the narrow alleyways that characterised the district surrounding Babu Frik’s workshop.  
‘You mean Rey?’ asked Finn. ‘Possibly. She’s changed since she’s become more powerful in the Force. It’s like… she’s become more distant.’  
‘Is she struggling with it?’ Poe thought it was a huge responsibility for one person to shoulder, and Rey did not have the same amount of life experience as someone like Luke Skywalker. Compared to him, even compared to Kylo Ren, she seemed painfully young and naive.  
‘Yeah, she’s got a lot going on.’  
‘What about this connection with Kylo Ren?’ asked Poe, not realising that Finn did not really want to talk about the subject, but missing his subtle cues. ‘How is she coping with that?’  
‘I’m not sure,’ admitted Finn, still concerned about his earlier conversation with Rey. ’It’s weird but I think he’s in love with her.’  
‘What?’ Poe was shocked by this. ‘Seriously?’  
‘Yes,’ said Finn adamantly. ‘I think that’s why he’s trying to stop her from going to Exegol. He doesn’t want her to get hurt.’ Although he had said the opposite to Rey, his exposure to Kylo Ren’s feelings about his friend were far more clear cut - he wanted to keep her alive, whatever the cost to himself.  
‘Hmm, it doesn’t seem right,’ frowned Poe, checking round the corner to see if they were safe. ‘It might just be lust?’  
‘What’s lust?’ Finn had never heard of it.  
‘It’s when you know… you’re attracted to someone and you want to… er kiss them. But not much more.’ Poe felt embarrassed explaining this to Finn, they had a close relationship but trying to explain things like feelings to him made him feel awkward.  
‘No, its not like that,’ said Finn thoughtfully, ‘he cares for her. That’s the feeling I got.’  
Poe frowned even more, ‘What do you mean by feeling?’  
‘I er… it was what he was feeling when he was near her.’  
‘And you felt this through the Force?’  
Finn nodded. ‘It sounds weird doesn’t it.’  
‘It does,’ replied Poe - they had almost reached the hangar and he quickened his pace a little, ‘But I think we can use this.’  
‘We can?’ Now it was Finn’s turn to be incredulous.  
‘Think about it,’ said Poe, his mind racing through all the possibilities, ‘Rey and Ren have got this strong connection in the Force. Both of them could be fighting it but as far as we can tell, they’re not… Plus he’s got feelings for Rey too. That’s gotta mean something.’  
‘We can’t trust a monster like Ren,’ despite Finn’s understanding of Kylo’s position, he still felt anxious about it.  
‘No,’ said Poe, ‘but we can trust his feelings. A man like that - he’s been taught to shun love, to see it as a weakness. And now he feels it for Rey, his enemy. I bet it confuses things. It must be blowing his mind.’  
‘You mean - in a good way?’  
‘Yes! Now, if Rey can get Kylo Ren to act on those feelings a little bit more - we might start to get somewhere,’ said Poe as they saw the ship come into view. Seeing Finn’s face, he grinned, ‘I don’t mean she has to fall in love with him too, but she can… er take advantage of it.’  
‘That’s what I was afraid you were going to say,’ sighed Finn, feeling protective of his friend. But he was worried that Rey was already feeling more for their enemy than he would wish.

Huddled into her coat, Rey snaked through the narrow alleyways, past brightly lit buildings, following the recognisable whispers on the Force, the vague indications of the turbulence that surrounded Kylo Ren. It meant that she was getting closer to him. Perhaps he was looking for her too. Coming around a corner, she saw a long flight of stone steps that led to the upper levels of the city. Bordering the steps were houses and bars, in the middle, an ancient temple, its frontage carved elaborately in wood, aged from centuries of exposure to the frigid weather of Kijimi. Long strings of bells hung either side of the doors, ringing softly in the wind and swirling snow. It was almost magical and she gazed at it, mesmerised, until she sensed someone coming down the steps. She recognised who it was immediately, Kylo Ren, his long cloak billowing out behind him, and she drew back into the shadows. As she watched him striding down the stairs, she felt the familiar pull of revulsion and attraction that he provoked in her; he looked every inch the Supreme Leader in his black garb, cold, remote, despotic. Only his eyes showed any humanity, he was anxious, despairing.  
When she was sure that he was alone, she stepped out of the shadows and lowered her hood. ‘Ben?’  
He turned round, relieved to see her. ‘I knew you were here.’  
‘I needed to speak to you.’  
‘Yes?’ This was progress, finally she was coming to him of her own volition.  
‘We need to have the Falcon back.’  
‘You can have it,’ said Kylo flatly, disappointed that it was nothing more profound. ‘But you’ll have to go and get it yourself.’  
‘That’s fine,’ she nodded, wondering why he had been so amenable to her demand. He had not questioned it at all. Yet she could sense no attempt to trick or manipulate her. ‘Is it on your ship?’  
‘I’ll give you the security codes,’ he nodded, starting to remove his glove. ‘You know where it is?’  
‘You can’t really miss it.’  
‘Hux does like his displays of power.’  
Pushing her hair out of the way behind her ear, he placed his fingers on her forehead. The small action made Rey’s heart flutter, it was what a lover would do, not her avowed enemy. But she knew that the boundaries were blurring. Kylo Ren closed his eyes in concentration as he transmitted the codes from his mind into her hers. At first Rey flinched, it was a strange feeling, like a tickle inside her head. But soon she was used to it and her mind started to wander. They were stood in the street, very close together, the snow falling around them, coating their clothes, and their hair. Rey realised that Kylo was completely focused on his task, so much so that she could easily have taken her lightsaber from her belt, ignited it, and plunged it straight into his heart, killing him instantly.  
Did I really just think that?  
Kylo’s eyes snapped open and he looked at her with wounded eyes. He had heard her thoughts clearly; she still wants to kill me. He couldn’t help feeling discouraged by this revelation. Despite all they had been through, and his attempts to help her, Rey’s anger towards him was still simmering. By then, he had finished transmitting the codes and he removed his hand from her forehead. ’Be careful,’ he warned her, putting his glove back on, ‘watch out for Allegiant General Pryde.’  
‘What’s an Allegiant General?’ it sounded so pompous.  
‘I have no idea,’ said Kylo, ‘the officers seem to like their ridiculous titles.’  
‘Thank you for the codes.’ She felt suddenly self-conscious, aware of how much he towered over her, shadowing her light with his darkness.  
‘Are you still looking for the holocron?’  
‘It’s not up to you,’ muttered Rey, sensing that the conversation was going to turn sour again if he was determined to control her choices.  
‘You don’t know what you’re up against.’ When she remained silent, he held out his hand to her, ‘Come with me. We can work through this together.’  
Rey felt her breath quicken. As soon as he said it, all she could think about was the vision of her, sat side by side with him on the sinister throne. It terrified her. She backed away, ‘I can’t.’  
‘Rey, please….’  
‘I can’t!’ Unable to get the vision out of her head, she turned and ran away from him, disappearing into the wind and the snow.

‘Where’s she got to?’ Finn was getting impatient. Several First Order squadrons had marched past their hangar and he was convinced that their luck was going to run out. Even worse, Rey could have been captured and they would have no way of knowing.  
‘She’ll be here soon,’ said Rose optimistically, waiting with him outside the ship. ‘She can take care of herself.’ Rose had a point. Finn still tended to treat Rey as if she was fragile, as if she was still the lonely, frightened girl he had found on Jakku. Despite her growing powers in the Force, he often forgot that she had changed so much in the meantime.  
Meanwhile Poe was talking quietly with Zorri about the predicament they were in; she had inspected the ship and told him that it wouldn’t get much past the centre of the Mid Rim before its capacitor would give out. ‘That’s what I was afraid of,’ said Poe, looking over to where Finn and Rose were looking out for Rey. He had a responsibility to them all and now he was failing them.  
‘Why don’t you take my ship?’ suggested Zorri, ‘it’s not much, but it will get you to Kef Bir and back to your base. More than this thing will.’  
‘No way,’ Poe would not hear of it. ‘What good is a spice runner without a ship? Besides you might need it to get off the planet. There’s always gonna be trouble brewing with the First Order here and one day they might snap.’  
Seeing that there was no way he was going to change his mind, Zorri smiled faintly. ‘You better hope that Rey comes back with the codes to that ship then.’  
‘Come with us,’ he said, concerned about her. Zorri’s moods had always been brittle but he sensed an underlying tension in her that was more serious than usual.  
Zorri shook her head, ‘I can’t, not right now. I’ve still got a couple of debts to pay but… I’m planning on getting out of here after that. You’re right, there’s too much disruption here with the First Order sticking its nose in. One day this place is going to blow and its not going to be pretty.’  
‘There’s always a place for you, with us, if you need one,’ said Poe, he didn’t like the idea of leaving her on the tinder-box planet but he also knew that spice runner debts were not something that could be shrugged off lightly either.  
Zorri laughed, ‘What in the Resistance? They’re taking ex drug runners now?’  
‘We take what we can get,’ said Poe, only half jokingly, ‘hell, even if Kylo Ren or General Hux wanted to defect, we’d take them too.’  
‘It’s that serious, huh?’ Seeing that she could do little more to help, it was time for Zorri to go. They shared a fond embrace, knowing that it could be the last time that they ever saw each other again. ’Well, it was good to see you, Poe. I’m glad to see that you’ve done something useful with your life.’  
‘Yeah. Take care, Zorri. And if you ever change your mind, look me up.’  
‘I will.’ Waving goodbye to Finn and Rose, Zorri put her helmet back on and disappeared into the blizzard.  
‘Rey not back yet?’ Whilst Rose went inside to get the ship warmed up, Poe took her place by Finn, who was getting more and more worried about their missing friend.  
‘Maybe we should go and look for her?’  
‘It’s a big city,’ frowned Poe, looking up into the sky. The blizzard was raging and all he could see was a thick, white swirl of snow. ‘She could be anywhere.’  
Suddenly there was a noise from the direction of the hangar entrance, and Rey slipped in through the door, before running over to the ship. She was out of breath, her hair and coat soaked through. ‘Woah, this city is huge.’  
‘Did you get the codes?’ asked Finn, ushering her into the ship, Poe bringing up the rear.  
‘I did,’ she smiled broadly, taking off her coat and shaking off the snow.  
‘Where are they then?’ asked Poe, wondering how they were going to make use of them.  
Rey tapped her forehead. ’In here. We’ll need to use them to get through the blockade and transmit them to the Steadfast to get inside.’  
‘This better work.’ Poe wanted to believe for Rey’s sake that Kylo Ren hadn’t tricked them, but he couldn’t help feeling anxious as he made his way into the cockpit.

Fortunately for Rey, the codes worked both times and their battered and leaking ship was admitted into the first available hangar on the Steadfast. Clearly being connected to the Supreme Leader had some perks.  
‘So we can trust him,’ murmured Poe, looking out of the cockpit window into the shiny interior of the First Order ship. ‘Right, are we all ready?’ He turned round to see the team nodding, their belongings and weapons collected together. ‘Are we all clear on the plan?’  
‘Find a computer terminal and get the location of the Falcon,’ everyone said in unison.  
‘Perfect,’ said Poe, grinning broadly. ‘Let’s go.’  
Most of the troops were still down in Kijimi City and they quickly blasted through what puny resistance there was in the hangar. It was not long before they were negotiating the corridors, following Finn’s lead based on his superior knowledge of First Order ships. A few more stormtroopers got in their way but these were easily dispatched.  
‘The security seems rather lax, don’t you think?’ Rose said worriedly to Poe as they ran along yet another pristine white corridor. ‘What if they’re luring us into a trap?’  
‘Then we’ll just have to be prepared,’ replied Poe with a wolfish grin, ‘come on, we’ve all got blasters!’  
As she hurried along behind the others, Rey felt a strange pull towards another part of the ship. From somewhere far away a voice was calling her:  
Rey… Rey… it is your destiny…  
Intrigued, if frightened, she felt compelled to follow it, to find out what it meant. As the group stopped at a crossing point between four different corridors, she grabbed hold of Finn’s arm. ‘There’s something I need to see,’ she whispered, ‘I’ll meet you at the Falcon.’ Before he could say anything, she had vanished into the heart of the Steadfast.  
‘But how will you find us?’ said Finn to the empty space where Rey had been.  
Seeing that Rey had disappeared off again, Poe was not happy. ‘That girl’s becoming a liability. Come on, we need to find a computer or this whole trip will be for nothing.’  
Around the next corner, they found a poorly guarded computer terminal and quickly overpowered the two officers using it. Whilst Finn and Rose locked them both in a nearby closet, Poe plugged BB8 into the mainframe and Threepio readied himself to translate the astromech droid’s beeps and whistles. After filtering through many bytes of information, BB8 was eventually able to locate the Falcon. ‘It’s in hangar bay 97,’ C3PO said helpfully.  
‘Great,’ said Poe, looking at the meaningless reams of data on the screen, ‘where is that in relation to here?’  
Another search of the database and BB8 was able to bring up a map showing the precise layout of the ship. Poe was pleased to see that it was a relatively easy journey from the computer terminal to the hangar, a matter of three corridors.  
‘Excellent,’ smiled Poe, looking at Finn and Rose, ‘We’ve got what we need. Let’s go.’  
But then Finn had an idea. ‘Threepio, do you think BB8 could access the First Order’s archives from here?’  
‘I should think so Master Finn. As long as it’s stored on a database, BB8 could theoretically retrieve any information you desired. But… what information do you need?’  
‘Yes, what do you need?’ asked Poe, getting tetchy, whilst Rose looked on nervously. It was bringing up bad memories of the previous time she had been in a First Order ship with Finn and BB8.  
‘Background information on stormtroopers, family names, home planets that sort of thing.’ When Poe looked sceptical, Finn worked to convince him, ‘Come on, we need this. How often are we going to be on a First Order ship? We can do so much more to get the troops on our side if we can offer them the information they want. Besides,’ he added as an afterthought, ‘we’ve got to do something whilst we’re waiting for Rey.’  
‘Alright. How long will it take?’ asked Poe, feeling jittery. They had been lucky so far but he did not want to push things. ‘It’s not going to be long before the First Order start wondering why their stormtroopers have stopped responding.’  
Scanning all available databases, BB8 checked through the information until the droid found what it believed to be information pertaining to the recruits and officers of the First Order. ‘Estimated time of retrieval - 22 minutes and 34 seconds,’ said Threepio helpfully.  
‘Come on, please Poe,’ pleaded Finn, ‘this is our best chance.’  
‘Okay,’ reluctantly Poe agreed, ‘but as soon as its downloaded, we’re out of here.’  
Throwing his arms around Poe, Finn was about to kiss his friend when he realised that he might be going a bit far. He settled for a hug instead, much to Poe’s amusement, ‘Thank you.’  
They spent a tense twenty-three minutes, checking the corridors, watching every exit, until BB8 completed the download of the database. They closed down the computer and were just about to leave when Poe’s worst nightmare came true.  
’Hands up!’

Down on Kijimi, Kylo Ren had returned to the main squadron to oversee the response to the continuing disruption, when Hux came running over.  
‘Send 51 Squadron into that quarter,’ the dark-clad warrior was saying to the squadron’s leader, peering through the snow at an electronic map of the city. ‘Then if we’ve got time…’  
‘Sorry for interrupting, Supreme Leader,’ said Hux, quite out of breath, his coat and his red hair thick with snow. ‘Several members of the Resistance have been captured trying to break into the Steadfast’s computers.’  
‘Is the scavenger with them?’ he asked, his voice calm. What was she up to?  
‘No, two men, a woman, and two droids.’  
‘She must be with them,’ murmured Kylo to himself. Directly to Hux, he commanded, ‘Return to the ship, pull everyone out!’  
‘But Supreme Leader,’ complained Hux, ‘the city is still in chaos, if we pull everything out now…’  
‘You heard what I said,’ Kylo Ren yelled behind him, not breaking his stride as he headed towards the command ship. ‘Do it!’

Following the voice, Rey had found herself in a corridor on the opposite side of the ship to where she had come in, standing outside a plain white set of doors. As she approached, the doors opened automatically, inviting her inside. Hesitantly, she peered in; stairs led down into a spacious room. It was clad all over in pristine white panels and with large windows on the far side that looked out over the planet Kijimi. But it was what was in the room which caught Rey’s attention. She crept down the steps slowly, taking everything in. It was crammed with objects, unknown things and old books. Every available surface was covered, including parts of the floor. Many of the artefacts she did not recognise but their connection with power and knowledge, most likely ancient, was evident. This must be Ben’s chambers, she reasoned, considering that he would have the interest, and the space, to amass such a collection.  
It was an object at the centre of the room that was calling to her. It was not much to look at, a horribly misshapen helmet that was balanced precariously on a black obsidian pillar. As she walked up to it slowly, the voices in her head grew louder. Reaching the helmet, a deep, resonant voice echoed through her head, marked by harsh breathing as if filtered through the mask itself:  
You don’t know the power of the dark side… give in… it is your destiny… there’s no escape…  
Horrified, she pulled away, exhausted from the constant assaults from the Force and the threat of the dark side. Her emotions were heightened and she felt drained by it.  
Moving away from the malign influence of the mask, she walked over to the other side of the room where a pile of books caught her attention, in particular one on Sith lore. Feeling the need to better understand what they were up against, she started to rifle through it. Then, realising that someone was approaching, she quickly stuffed the book into her bag.  
‘You’re difficult to find.’ Kylo Ren stood at the top of the steps.  
Caught, she remained silent as he walked down the steps towards her. A thought was voiced before she could stop it, He’s my enemy, I hate him!  
‘Why did you run from me?’ he asked curiously. Her feelings seemed to be continually shifting and changing, he noticed there was anger but also… distress, shame? When she did not reply, he tried again, ‘I thought you were looking for the Falcon?’  
‘Something in here called to me,’ she said reluctantly. The tension in her head was unbearable.  
‘A book?’ he raised his eyebrows, knowing full well what she had taken.  
Rey shook her head. ‘The mask.’  
‘Don’t listen to it,’ he said angrily, going over to where the mask sat on its pillar, ‘It’s all lies!’  
Abruptly, he pulled out his lightsaber and ignited it. Rey took a step back but he was not aiming it at her. Swinging the heavy lightsaber up high, he brought it down onto the mask and the pillar, in one movement, smashing them into a million tiny fragments.  
‘It wasn’t Vader?’ She watched him warily as he stood staring at the remains of the mask, breathing heavily.  
‘It was Sidious,’ he said quietly, stirring the remains of the mask with his foot. The red lightsaber crackled and fizzed with barely contained energy. ‘It was always Sidious.’  
‘And now he’s your Master.’  
He turned to her, his eyes blazing with hurt and pain. ’I had no choice!’  
‘You’ve always had a choice,’ she said hotly, feeling no sympathy for him. ‘No one made you kill and burn….’  
‘No they didn’t,’ he said flatly, ‘but you don’t know the power of the dark side.’  
‘I know that some are strong enough to fight it,’ she threw back at him, ‘Luke, Leia…’  
Upset by her hostility, he extinguished his lightsaber and returned it to his belt, his anger spent. ‘You can’t fight what we are.’  
‘What are we?’  
‘There’s a prophecy,’ said Kylo, stepping closer to her, ‘the coming together of two powerful Force users. One from the light, and one from the dark.’ He saw the realisation dawning on her face, ‘It’s you and I, Rey.’  
‘Balance and belonging,’ she murmured.  
‘We can’t deny it,’ Kylo said softly, ‘the more we’re together, the more alike we become. Don’t you feel it?’  
‘I’m nothing like you!’ she hissed, trying to ignore the implications of his words. To achieve balance, he had to be pulled towards the light whilst she had to be pulled towards the dark. It scared her - how would she know when to stop? He knew that she was struggling and yet - is that what he wants? She reacted with scorn, ‘The dark side has corrupted you. Hate, fear, power - that’s what drives you now!’  
He frowned. ’Then tell me this. You wanted to take my hand before. Why didn’t you?’  
Rey knew he meant the aftermath of Snoke’s death, the heady, intoxicating moment after they had fought together, when she really thought that Ben would renounce the dark side and come back to the light. Before he disappointed her by retreating further into the darkness. ‘You could have killed me before. Why didn’t you?’  
As they stared at each other heatedly, the comm unit in the corner of the room started to buzz softly with an incoming call. Breaking eye contact with her, Kylo stalked over to the terminal and pressed a button. ‘Yes?’ he asked irritably.  
A small hologram of one of the officers appeared and spoke nervously, ’The prisoners are ready for inspection, Supreme Leader.’  
‘Good.’ He switched off the comm unit. ‘Come on,’ he said to Rey, before striding away up the stairs.  
Keeping her weapon close at hand, Rey followed him. She felt no animosity from him, but he was clearly annoyed with her. The sight of the Supreme Leader and the young woman created a few surprised glances from officers and stormtroopers as they marched down the corridor, but Kylo Ren did not seem to notice them - he kept his eyes focused on the path in front of him, paying no attention to anyone, his face expressionless.  
Eventually they reached the cell block; Kylo commanded the officers in attendance to open the cell containing the Resistance prisoners. They complied immediately and he gestured for Rey to follow him in. Inside the simply furnished room, Rose, Poe and Finn, and the two droids, were astonished to see Kylo Ren appear, followed by Rey. They could see that she was okay, in fact she looked as if she was commanding Kylo Ren rather than the other way around.  
Gesturing towards her friends, Kylo said bluntly, ’Your friends can go. But I need you to stay here with me.’  
Rey could not believe her ears, ‘I don’t think so.’  
‘Then you will all have to stay here,’ snapped Kylo, not in the mood for bargaining.  
Pretending to consider his request, Rey used the Force to snap open Poe and Finn’s restraints, before countering an attack from Kylo Ren as he realised what was happening. Whilst Finn went over to release Rose, Rey shouted at them to get to the Falcon, she would hold off Kylo Ren, who she was effectively blocking from leaving the cell. Fortunately his rage was focused on her and her friends managed to escape, overpowering the officers outside and stealing their blasters.  
In the cell, Rey and Kylo allowed their feelings of betrayal and anger to overcome all reason, slashing and chopping at each other with their lightsabers, pouring all their emotion into the fight. The conflict was intense in the small confines of the cell; as they clashed with each other, their blades lacerated the walls and the floor, their anger and frustration against each other boiling over, unleashing a tremendous wave of energy that Kylo and Rey could barely contain. They shouted, cursed and yelled at each other but neither would give in.  
Outside, the cowed officers stared at each other nervously as the storm raged inside the cell. Having one unpredictable Force user nearby was bad enough but two was unthinkable.  
‘Should we alert General Hux?’

Meanwhile, Finn, Rose and Poe, and the two droids, had made it to the hangar where the Falcon had been secured, easily blasting all stormtroopers and droids that got in their way. There was no time to be discerning. Alarms were going off, and squadrons had been alerted, but there was a general feeling of chaos as the First Order tried to marshal its forces against intruders in its own ship.  
‘What should we do about Rey?’ shouted Finn as he raced up the gangplank behind Poe.  
‘Ask me again in a minute,’ Poe yelled back, dumping his weapon and running into the cockpit, ‘let’s get this baby into the air first.’

The cell had been laid to waste. Rey and Kylo Ren stood staring at each other across its ruins, both breathing heavily. Sweat was pouring down Kylo’s face, Rey’s hair was dishevelled and clinging damply to her forehead. The fight had been cathartic on many levels.  
Rey stared at Kylo, unsure what she wanted to happen next. ’Are you going to let me go now?’  
Kylo gestured down the hallway with his lightsaber. ‘Sure.’ There was nothing to be gained from forcing her to stay with him. In fact, he recognised that he had been wrong. He wanted her to make her choice freely.  
Keeping her eyes on him, Rey walked backwards out of the cell, before turning to run down the nearest corridor. After a short pause, Kylo ran out after her.  
The fight was on again, although both knew this time it was for show.  
As Rey headed for the hangars, she took the opportunity to ravage the ship, using her weapon to deflect blaster bolts into walls, damage and destroy the pristine panels, smash up computer terminals and send stormtroopers and officers flying. To maintain the illusion, as soon as Kylo Ren caught up with her, she fought back aggressively - perhaps too aggressively as she Force pushed him into the wall of the corridor, sending him flying. For a moment he did not move, staring at her, shocked by the violence of her assault. Concerned, Rey went to help him but when a squadron of stormtroopers appeared to help their Master, she was forced to leave, continuing on her destructive path.  
Reaching the hangar, she saw the Falcon had already taken off, and was hovering just outside the ship, waiting for her. Running over to the edge of the hangar bay, where the Steadfast gave way to space, she paused, looking at the gap between her and the ship, making a note of the considerable distance. Can I do this?  
Behind her, Kylo Ren entered the hangar, followed by the squadron of stormtroopers. He saw Rey poised on the edge and called out to her.  
I have to do this.  
He walked towards her, speaking softly so that only she could hear him. He held out his hand, ‘Rey, please. Stay with me. Help me make sense of what’s happening.’  
‘I can’t.’ It was too heavy a price to pay - she could not bring him closer to the light at the risk of heading further into the dark. The aggression that she had unleashed troubled her - he was right, she was becoming more like him. Already she was struggling with her emotions. They threatened to overwhelm her. Finding balance was something they would have to do alone.  
‘Then I have no choice,’ he said sadly.  
Rey shook her head, ‘You keep saying that. But that’s where you’re wrong.’  
Finally the time was right. Poe had manoeuvred the Falcon close enough to the lip of the hangar so that she could jump across onto the landing ramp. She could see Finn was waiting for her and, closing her eyes and entrusting herself into the Force, she jumped across the void. For a moment she felt the freedom of the leap, then she was falling, falling into Finn’s waiting arms. As he caught her, she felt herself return to solid ground, then she was running into the ship behind Finn. She did not look back but she knew that Kylo was stood there, watching.  
The engines of the Falcon fired into the hangar as it blasted away, sending everything - stormtroopers, equipment - flying. Only Kylo Ren, his dark eyes filled with disappointment and hurt, managed to keep his footing. Rejected for a second time, he stared for a long time at the darkness of space where the Falcon had been only a moment before.  
As the stormtroopers picked themselves up, General Hux came running into the hangar. Frowning at the chaos, he made his way over to the Supreme Leader, who was standing alone at the edge of the bay.  
‘Lost the scavenger?’ he said, unable to hide a smirk.  
Gathering himself together, Kylo Ren walked silently past Hux and headed back to his chambers.


End file.
